


Help Me Make the Most of Freedom

by CommanderPuff



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Sheriff Lexa Woods, Small town Polis with a dash of supernatural mystery, Trigger Warning: mention of Involuntary commitment, trigger warning: mention of suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-29 04:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11433609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderPuff/pseuds/CommanderPuff
Summary: Not much happens in the small, quiet town of Polis. That is, until a special agent from a super, highly classified part of the government walks into the Sheriff's office and claims that some dangerous fugitives might be hiding out in Polis.





	1. Chapter 1

Monday morning was usually the start of another uneventful week for Lexa. After a weekend spent writing speeding tickets and solving petty arguments between neighbors, Lexa had woken up this morning expecting another week of the same thing. She had dressed herself in her usual Sheriff’s uniform, standing in front of her bathroom mirror as she buttoned up her beige collared shirt. She tucked the ends of her shirt beneath the waist of her dark brown pants before starting on her hair. Like every morning before this one, brushing out the knots in her long hair and pulling her hair up into a clean, neat bun took longer than she would have liked. But when she was done, Lexa simply grabbed her brown Sheriff hat and coat and left to get her morning coffee expecting to spend the morning sitting behind her desk until it was time for her afternoon patrol. It was always the same deal when it came to the small, quiet town of Polis. She was coming up on her third year as town Sheriff and everything was still the same as it had always been since the day she was promoted.

Except for today. 

Today, she had walked into the small police station to find her Deputy, Anya, waiting for her by her office door. The lack of smile her Deputy typically greeted her with was enough to warn Lexa that today was not going to be like every other Monday. 

“You have a visitor,” Anya said as Lexa approached. 

Green eyes immediately roamed the station, spotting only the usual officers at their desks. 

“He went to the bathroom,” Anya explained when Lexa’s gaze returned to her. “And before you ask, no he didn’t tell me who he was. He said that he could only speak with you and that the matter is urgent.” 

The frown on her Deputy’s face told Lexa two things. One, whoever this guy was, he had to be important to blow off Anya’s questions without at least getting hit. Two, her Deputy didn’t like this guy. But, to be fair, Lexa knew that Anya had a very short list of people that she actually liked.

The door to the men’s room opened as a bald, dark-skinned man, with a short beard, wearing a black suit stepped out, fixing his suit jacket and brushing invisible dirt off his sleeves. The moment his eyes landed on Lexa and Anya, he made his way towards them. His hand dipped into an interior pocket of his suit jacket. “Sheriff Woods. My name is Special Agent Charles Pike.” He pulled out a thin black wallet and quickly flashed a badge before tucking it back into his suit jacket’s inner pocket. “I would like a word with you in private.”

It took Lexa a moment to process what she had just seen and heard. _Special_ _Agent_ Charles Pike. What was a special agent doing in Polis? “Very well, Agent Pike.” She unlocked her office door and stepped inside, holding the door open for the special agent. She then let the door swing shut as she made her way over to her desk and set her coffee and Sheriff’s hat down on her desk. The office she had been given after being promoted to Sheriff wasn’t terribly big. In fact, it was rather small. It consisted mainly of her desk with the walls decorated with a few pictures. 

Lexa shrugged off her coat and draped it over the back of her office chair before taking a seat behind her desk, while Agent Pike settled into one of the two seats across from her. “What brings you to Polis, Agent Pike?”

“Have you noticed anything strange happening in your town, Sheriff Woods?” Pike asked, completely ignoring Lexa’s previous question. 

“No,” Lexa replied, not at all pleased that the special agent had ignored her earlier question. 

“You haven’t come across any strange, unexplainable events or seen anyone new stroll into town lately?” Pike pressed.

Lexa sat up a touch straighter in her chair. “No.”

“Nothing at all?” Pike asked  _ again _ . 

“Not much happens here in Polis, Agent Pike,” Lexa replied, her voice stern. “This is a quiet, peaceful town. So what brings you here?” 

“I have reason to believe that one or more dangerous fugitives are hiding out somewhere in your town,” Pike finally answered. 

“And what reason is that?” Lexa leaned forward, resting her arms against her desk. While this whole conversation felt strange, and she didn’t particularly like this special agent, if there truly was a threat lurking in her town then she wanted to know about it. 

“Much of the case I am working on is classified,” Pike replied as he stood up and slipped his hands into the pockets of his neatly pressed black pants. “So I cannot share the details with you, Sheriff Woods. But I do believe that this small town of yours is hiding the fugitives I’m seeking. I will be remaining in Polis while I conduct my investigation. If you remember anything or see anything suspicious…” Agent Pike placed a card with his name and phone number on Lexa’s desk. “...give me a call.”

Special Agent Charles Pike was out the door by the time Lexa picked up the card with the agent’s contact information on it. Dangerous fugitives hiding out in Polis? It was certainly a possibility, but it wouldn’t take long for a new person to stand out. It was just the way this town worked. And if anything strange had occurred, everyone in town would have known about it long before this special agent rolled in. 

Lexa took a sip of her coffee as she set the agent’s card back down on her desk. She would continue to keep a sharp eye out during her patrols, but Lexa doubted that this special agent would find what he was looking for. Not in Polis.

* * *

 

“Dangerous fugitives?” 

“Yup.”

“Hiding out  _ here _ ? In Polis?”

“That’s what Agent Pike believes.”

Anya shook her head, hazel colored eyes turning away from Lexa and onto the familiar passing scenery of trees and houses. It was early in the afternoon, and both of them were in Lexa’s patrol car on their way to the town’s mechanic. Anya’s own patrol car had broken down on her last week, and she had left it with the town’s mechanic with the hope that Raven would be able to fix the old car up. Lexa didn’t know why her Deputy didn’t just put in a request for a new patrol car. The one Anya was driving was almost two decades old. But, for some reason, her Deputy was attached that that old car. 

“So what do you think?” Anya asked, her gaze still on the passing scenery. 

Lexa slowed her car to a halt as they reached a red light. What did she think? Honestly, she didn’t know what to think. She had a special agent claiming that there were fugitives hiding out in Polis but had shared no other details. Part of her believed that Agent Pike was wasting his time investigating Polis. If something strange had occurred, or someone new had moved into town, surely she would have known by now. But another part of her didn’t like the idea of an unknown threat lurking nearby. 

“I think we should increase patrols around town until Agent Pike is finished with his investigation,” Lexa answered as the red light switched to green. 

The rest of the drive to the town’s mechanic was relatively uninteresting until they pulled into the parking lot and found Agent Pike talking with Raven outside the garage. Anya was out of the patrol car the second Lexa killed the engine. Placing her Sheriff’s hat on top of her head, Lexa stepped out of her car and followed her Deputy over to the open garage where Agent Pike was still talking with Raven. And by the look on the young woman’s face, Raven didn’t seem to be enjoying her conversation with the special agent. 

“I like said,” Raven crossed her arms, “I don’t know anything.” 

“Well, if anything comes to mind or you see something,” Agent Pike dipped his hand into his pocket and produced another card with his contact information printed upon expensive cardstock, “give me a call.” 

Raven took the card. “Yeah. Sure.” 

Pike turned away from Raven and nodded his head in greeting towards Anya and Lexa as they approached. The special agent didn’t bother to stop and chat as he walked right past the two officers and climbed into his own black SUV. 

“That guy has a stick up his ass,” Raven commented as she watched the agent pull out of the parking lot and drive off. 

A smirk tugged on the corner of Anya’s lips at the mechanic’s comment. “What was he asking you about?” 

Raven shrugged and tucked the agent’s card into the pocket of her grey coverall. “He just wanted to know if I’ve seen Doctor Griffin lately.”

“Why was he interested in Doctor Griffin?” Lexa asked. 

“Dunno,” Raven replied. “But I have some good news. I managed to fix up your car, Deputy. Your baby still has plenty of life in her.”

Lexa fell back a few steps as Raven led her Deputy into the garage. Agent Pike was interested in Doctor Griffin, but why? The Griffin family hadn’t exactly had it easy these past few years. Long before Lexa had even started her police training, she remembered reading about Jake Griffin’s suicide in the town paper. She remembered how such a death had shaken the tight knit community. How it had taken a great toll on Doctor Abby Griffin, and how it had sent their only daughter over the edge. No one talked much about the Griffin family. Those were hard memories that the town just wanted to forget. Not even Doctor Griffin talked about her late husband or the daughter she had been forced to send away. 

The roar of an engine pulled Lexa from her thoughts. She found her Deputy sitting happily behind the wheel of her black and white 1990 Crown Vic patrol car. The driver’s side window was rolled all the way down and Raven had one arm resting against the roof the car while she leaned down to speak with Anya. In all honesty, Lexa wasn’t even remotely surprised that Raven had managed to fix up the old patrol car. Raven could fix and make just about anything. It was the reason everyone went to her. And her prices were also pretty fair. 

Lexa rolled her eyes as Anya playfully revved the engine of her car, getting a few laughs out of Raven from whatever her Deputy had also said. Green eyes roamed around the garage as Anya and Raven chatted. As her gaze fell upon other vehicles Raven seemed to be working on, Lexa couldn’t help but think back to Doctor Griffin. What possible connection could Agent Pike be investigating that linked the doctor with these dangerous fugitives that he believed were hiding out in Polis? 

“Hey, Lexa!”

Lexa looked back over towards her Deputy who now had her head sticking out of the driver’s side window. 

“Look’s like this old girl isn’t dead yet!” 

* * *

 

Now that her Deputy had her car back in working order, Lexa had given Anya her patrol shifts back, starting with a shift tonight. While she already had Lincoln out on patrol tonight, it wouldn’t hurt to have one more officer out in Polis. Plus, now that her Deputy had her car back, she knew Anya was itching to get out from behind her desk. So, with Anya and Lincoln out on patrol, Lexa found herself back in her office at the station. However, instead of typical boring reports she would find herself going over, Lexa was busy digging up old case files on her computer. 

Jake Griffin’s suicide happened years ago, before she had begun her police training. All she had known about the case was what the rest of the town knew. The man had just snapped one night and killed himself. The town’s previous Sheriff had worked the case, though there wasn’t much work to be done. The case file regarding Jake Griffin’s death was pretty straight forward. No foul play was suspected. A suicide note had been left and Jake’s body had been found in his car with a gun in his hand and a bullet in his brain. 

The incident regarding Jake and Abby’s only daughter, Clarke Griffin, happened while Lexa was still in training. Like Mr. Griffin’s case, Lexa had only known what the town knew and had never bothered to look into once she had been promoted to Sheriff. There had never been any reason to. But now that she was reading the case file, there wasn’t any new information that Lexa hadn’t already learned from town gossip. It seemed that Clarke had been doing well in school and had a healthy social life around town. But that happy life came crashing down the day her father had taken his life. The girl started having issues in school, and her mother eventually pulled her out before sending her off to Mount Weather Hospital for the girl’s own health and safety. 

The Griffin family was a tragic story tucked away within this town. A good family ripped apart and destroyed. But why was Agent Pike interested in Doctor Griffin? 

Lexa let out a sigh before leaning back in her office chair, staring at the computer screen. The photo of Clarke Griffin attached to the top of the case file stared right back at her. The photo was taken before her father’s death when the girl was only sixteen years old. This had all happened six years ago. Was Clarke still at Mount Weather? There was someone she could ask. The idea of bringing up such horrible memories didn’t sit well with the Sheriff, but Agent Pike was interested in Doctor Griffin and Lexa wanted to know why. If there was something dangerous going on in Polis she wanted to get to the bottom of it instead of simply relying on some special agent that rubbed her the wrong way to take care of it. 

Grabbing her Sheriff’s hat and coat, Lexa left the station and climbed into her patrol car. She already knew that Abby Griffin lived out on the southern edge of town, and the drive over to the house was uneventful. As Lexa pulled over alongside the curb outside the house, she found the driveway empty and the house dark. She glanced down at the digital clock on the car’s dashboard. It was a little after nine at night. It was entirely possible that Abby Griffin was working a late shift at Polis Hospital. She could always come by later, after her afternoon patrol tomorrow. 

Just as Lexa was about to call it a night and head home, she spotted something sticking out from one of the windows on the first floor of the doctor’s home. As the object steadily grew in size and dropped from the window to the ground, Lexa realized that what she was staring at wasn’t an object at all, but a person. Someone had just climbed out of the the doctor’s home through one of the windows. Lexa muttered a curse under her breath as she quickly put her car in park before stepping out into the cool night. If this was some punk kid pulling some kind of stupid prank then Lexa really wasn’t in the mood. Not after this strange day. 

She pulled her flashlight from her duty belt around her waist as she made her way along the side of the house where she had seen the person drop from the window. She pressed down on the small button on her flashlight, bathing the spot where she had seen the person in bright, white light, catching the person in the act of closing the window they had just climbed out of. Lexa noted the grey hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up and concealing most of the person’s face, blue jeans, and white shoes the subject was wearing. The person looked towards Lexa for a brief moment before quickly turning away from her. Lexa swore she spotted a glimpse of blonde hair as she began to close the distance between her and whoever this person was. 

“Hey. Come-” 

The subject took off running away from the house. Lexa was already chasing after the person across Doctor Griffin’s neatly trimmed lawn. 

“Stop! Police!” Lexa yelled as she kept the fleeing subject in sight. They were quickly coming to the end of Doctor Griffin’s property which was bordered by trees that stretched on for miles. It wouldn’t take much to get lost within the woods that surrounded the town of Polis. It also wouldn’t take much to throw someone off your trail and find a place to hide. Heart pumping and lungs burning, Lexa kept up the chase as the subject ran into the woods. Lexa quickly began to gain some ground between her and the person. This was not the first time she had run through the thick terrain of the woods. In fact, she jogged through the woods that bordered her own home quite often. But it was obvious that the terrain was giving the subject some difficulty as they rushed blindly, deeper and deeper into the woods. 

It didn’t take long before the person began to take sudden and random turns in an effort to lose Lexa. Yet, Lexa continued to keep the subject in her sights, keeping her pace steady as she wondered how much longer this person was going to keep playing this game. Lexa got her answer a few moments later as the person took another sudden turn and almost tripped over their own feet. With the subject so close, Lexa reached out in an effort to snatch the back of the person’s grey sweatshirt. But her fingers grabbed nothing except air as the person quickly recovered and continued to run. Lexa kept chasing after the subject, mentally cursing herself for screwing up the perfect opportunity to end this stupid chase. However, another chance presented itself as the subject continued to rush through the trees and into a small clearing before coming to a sudden halt. 

Lexa slowed to a stop once she stepped into the small clearing, her gaze shooting past the person to the large, smooth cliff face that stretched high into the night sky, putting an end to their chase. Lexa’s free hand fell to the gun in her holster. In one smooth, quick motion she had her gun out and leveled at the subject’s back, her flashlight also aimed at the person. 

“Hands up!” she barked out the order between heavy breaths. A moment passed when the person did nothing but stand there with her back to her. Before Lexa could repeat her order with a little more emphasis, the subject slowly raised their hands up. “Turn around.” Again, there was a moment where the subject simply stood there with their hands up. But then that moment passed, and the person slowly turned around to face Lexa. The hood that had been concealing most of the person’s face had fallen back during the chase. 

Lexa swore under her breath as blue eyes squinted against the bright light of her flashlight. There was no doubt in Lexa’s mind about who she was staring at. Especially when she had been staring at the woman’s photo and reading her case file less than an hour ago. But it didn’t make any sense. What the hell was Clarke Griffin doing breaking into her mother’s house? 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love you showed on the first chapter of this fic. Here is chapter two, showing up a few days earlier than expected, and much longer than I originally intended. This chapter focuses primarily on Clarke and the events leading up to where we left off at the end of the first chapter. So, while there isn't a whole lot of clexa this chapter (there's some because I can never help myself) you do get a bit more of Clarke's backstory. Oh, there's also some ranya in this chapter too because I felt like putting it in there.

**Before**

At first, Clarke believed that the new guard had just been messing with her. She thought this was the Ark’s new way of punishing her. The heartless bastards here knew how much she resisted this hell. They knew how much she fought for escape. So why not introduce a new guard who would claim to be her friend and constantly whisper escape plans into her ear? Infect her mind with false hope and then laugh as she was beaten down into the mindless toy they wanted her to be.

So whenever this new guard escorted her through the metal, maze-like hallways of Arkadia, Clarke would allow his deceitful words go in one ear and out the other. She would not let the Ark sneak into her head. She had been fighting this place for the last six years, and she would continue to fight until she somehow managed to escape, or until the bastards in charge of this hell put her down. The latter was the more likely scenario. Clarke knew that these people had no issues with killing anyone who stood in their way.

But then something strange happened. Which was odd considering everything Clarke had witnessed and experienced during her time locked in Arkadia had always leaned on the side of unexplainable.

Clarke couldn’t recall what day it was, or the time for that matter. All she knew was that whatever painful experimental tests the leaders of the Ark wished to put her through had been done, she had been given a tasteless meal, and then locked back into the small metal cell that had been her home for these past six years. She had only just noticed that the guards had taken the time to wash her latest drawings off the metal walls while she had been away, when the door to her cell opened. Clarke turned to find the new guard, B. Blake the thin plastic name tag read, standing in the doorway. The blonde didn’t say a word to the guard, her mind still mourning the loss of her wall art.

“Come with me.”

The blonde didn’t move. Instead she simply stood there and wondered why the name Blake sounded familiar.

“Please,” the new guard took a step back and gestured with his hand for Clarke to follow.

Well, _that_ was new. The guards at Arkadia never pleaded. They never asked. They just gave demands and if anyone refused then they would be forced to obey. So what was this new guard trying to do? What new game was the Ark forcing her to play now?

“Clarke, _please_ ,” Blake said. “We don’t have much time. It’s Octavia.”

The name alone lured the blonde out of her cell and into the hallway. The new guard shot her a strange, almost relieved looking, smile as he started down the hallway and gestured again for her to follow. Clarke followed Blake without a word, confused, but now also a bit worried. Octavia was one of the many kids she had met early on when she had been torn from her home and dragged into this cold hell. Clarke had lost count how many times she had fixed Octavia up during the Ark’s relentless testing. A friendship had grown between them, similar to the bonds Clarke had formed to the other kids trapped here.

Clarke followed the new guard through the identical looking hallways until they reached a common area devoid of everything except for more metal walls and floors . Except it wasn’t. The blonde’s gaze first fell upon two familiar faces: Finn and Wells. Two guards laid motionless at their feet along with…

The blonde hurried past Blake and dropped to her knees beside an unconscious Octavia. Her fingers pressed against the side of the girl’s neck, searching for a pulse. Relief calmed the wave of panic that had rushed through her body when she easily found a strong pulse. Octavia was still alive. Blue eyes examined the girl, noting the many bruises that marred her face, a bleeding split lip, and bloodied knuckles. And that was just what Clarke could see right away. There was no telling what other bruises or wounds the girl had underneath her clothes.

Clarke looked up from examining her friend and over to the two guards laying motionless on the floor. The smell of burnt flesh and the sight of charred skin around both guards’ faces twisted the blonde’s stomach before she looked over at Finn.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Finn defended as he met Clarke’s stare. “They were going to kill her, Clarke. I...I didn’t mean to kill them.”

“Forget them,” Blake stepped over one of the burnt bodies and squatted down on the other side of Octavia. “I need you to heal her, Clarke.” The new guard kept his focus solely upon the blonde, but when nothing happened he spoke again, this time his voice just a bit softer. “Please. She’s my sister.”

And then it clicked. That’s why the name Blake had sounded familiar. She had heard it before from Octavia when they had first met years ago. Clarke had already planned to heal Octavia the moment she had seen the unconscious woman on the floor, but the blonde took a moment to watch the new guard. What was his role in all this? Why was he here? He couldn’t possibly agree with the way Arkadia was treating his sister. Or maybe this was still all one big game orchestrated by the Ark. Regardless, Clarke wasn’t going to just leave her friend lying on the floor unconscious. So the blonde’s attention dropped back down to her friend as she gently placed the palm of her hand against Octavia’s bruised cheek. Blue eyes closed as she focused on the warm contact between her hand on her friend’s skin.

A moment later, she felt it. The stinging pain started first in her cheek, and then traveled down to her lip. The blonde let out a small cry as the skin of her lower lip ripped. The pain shot up to her brain next, as if someone was beating her skull over and over again. And then her hand was shoved away from her friend’s cheek. Clarke’s eyes shot open to find Octavia awake and sitting up, her lip completely healed and most of the bruising on her friend’s face gone.

“I’m almost done,” Clarke fought to keep the pain from her voice as her head throbbed. She could taste the blood on her bottom lip as she reached her hand out towards her friend.

Octavia leaned away from Clarke. “You don’t need to take all the pain.”

The blonde’s hand dropped back down to her side. She was still processing her friend’s comment when Octavia suddenly embraced Blake in a tight hug. Clarke began to rise back onto her feet, her head giving another painful throb as the world violently shifted. She felt gentle hands grab onto her arms to help steady her.

“Go slow, Clarke,” Wells voice was like a soothing temporary balm against the aching pain in her head.  

“What now?” Finn asked as Blake helped Octavia to her feet. “You said we could trust you. So what’s the plan?”

“The plan is for all of you to go back to your cells and pretend like none of this ever happened,” Blake replied.

“What about them?” Wells gestured to the dead guards.

“Don’t worry about them,” Blake said. “I’m working with a group of people who are trying to shut this place down. But the only way that is going to work is if we follow the plan. Trust me, my mission is to get every last one of you out of here.”

 

* * *

 

They trusted him. After Octavia vouched for her brother, they all went back to their cells as Blake instructed. Clarke had almost reached her cell when the blonde realized that she hadn’t come across or heard any other guard nearby. Which was unusual since guards patrolled these hallways often. Maybe this wasn’t a game, and there really was a group of people fighting to free her and all the others trapped here.

It was another tasteless meal later when Clarke’s cell door opened again and Blake entered. He handed her a bottle of painkillers along with a bottle of water. Her head still ached and her lip still stung so she accepted both items without comment. No words were exchanged at first as the blonde held tightly onto the painkillers and the bottle of water. It was right before Blake was about to leave when Clarke spoke.

“What’s your name?”

“Bellamy.”

It wasn’t until after Bellamy left and the cell door shut when Clarke sat down on the edge of her cot and eagerly twisted off the cap on the bottle of painkillers. As she gently shook out two pills, a small scrap of paper slipped out of the bottle as well.

Clarke unfolded the scrap of paper and read the single world inked on it.

**Tomorrow**.

 

* * *

 

Clarke wasn’t sure when she had fallen asleep, but she awoke to the unwavering bright lights that illuminated her small cell. Sitting up on her cot, Clarke winced at the dull ache in her head. The painkillers had done a fantastic job soothing the pain earlier, which was most likely why she had managed to get some sleep instead of remaining awake. But the painkillers had worn off, and she wasn’t about to go through another day in this hell with a pounding headache.

Why the hell had those two guards attacked Octavia anyways? It wasn’t unusual for the guards to give an assertive push or nudge whenever someone didn’t want to do what they were told. But to beat one of them unconscious? As those questions waded through the blonde’s mind, Clarke swung her legs over the side of her cot and looked over to the tiny metal table that was attached to the wall across from her. She remembered leaving the painkillers, the note, and the half consumed bottle of water on the table before falling asleep. What Clarke didn’t remember leaving on the table was a gun.

Clarke was up on her feet and across her cell in a heartbeat. She didn’t touch the gun. Not at first. Instead the blonde just stared at the weapon, as if it would disappear if she stared hard enough. But it didn’t. Blue eyes traveled to the note she had found earlier. She had sworn the scrap of paper had only had one word scribbled on it. But now that lone word was gone, and the paper now had nine words inked onto it.

**Right. Straight. Left. Straight. Straight. Right. Straight. Up. Run.**

There was a strange, loud buzzing noise moments before the door to her cell opened. Clarke looked over towards the doorway, expecting to find a guard standing there or perhaps even Bellamy. Instead, the cell door just swung open without a single guard in sight. Was this...was this the plan Bellamy had been talking about earlier? The sounds of cheers coming further down the hallway lured Clarke towards the empty doorway. It didn’t occur to her until she was peeking her head out the doorway that she had also picked up the gun. Looking down the hallway to her left, Clarke watched as several people hurried from their cells and ran down the hallway, cheering and shouting.

Escape. This was their escape.

Clarke looked back down at the note in her hand. **Right.** So the blonde went right. As Clarke hurried straight down the hallway, she recognized a few faces that ran past her. Others who had been trapped here. As Clarke rounded a corner to the left, following the note’s instructions, she quickly came to a halt, almost colliding into the back of a guard. Just as Clarke went to take a step back, a sharp white spike pierced out the back of the guard’s neck. And then the guard collapsed, revealing another familiar face.

“Dax!” a voice behind Clarke called.

Clarke stared at the long, sharp, bone-like spike protruding from Dax’s palm before looking to meet his gaze. The young man simply lowered his hand and moved past Clarke, hurrying to catch up with the voice that had called for him.

_Keep moving._

Straight. She needed to go straight. Clarke stepped over the guard’s body and continued down the hallway. More shouting began to echo up and down the metal hallways, and this time not all the shouting was coming from the cheering people running loose. Her grip remained tight on the gun in her hand as she tried to forget about what she had just seen minutes ago. The blonde was steps away from where she would need to turn right when another guard rushed around the corner.

“You! Stop! Drop the-”

The guard was suddenly lifted from the ground and slammed into the wall by an unseen force. As the guard slumped to the ground, Wells stepped out from around the corner, lowering his hand back down to his side.

“Wells!” Clarke couldn’t fight back the smile as she hurried towards her friend and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Clarke replied as she dropped her arms and stepped away from Wells. She spotted both Octavia and Finn standing behind him.

“Where’d you get the gun?” Wells’ gaze dropped to the weapon in her hand.

Before Clarke could answer, Octavia stepped forward. “Can we save this conversation until _after_ we get out of here?”

“Octavia is right,” Clarke nodded. “We need to get moving.” The blonde took the lead and turned right as the note had instructed. And straight down that hallway was a glass door that led directly outside.

The cool chill of the fresh, night air against her face was a sensation Clarke had wondered if she would ever feel again. She couldn’t help the ridiculous smile that pulled at her lips, regardless of the pain, as her shoes hit the grass and dirt. They were _outside_. They had managed to escape that hellish place and freedom was just a few yards ahead, past a tall nine foot fence that encircled the entire building. They weren’t the only ones that had managed to escape either. Young men and women were pouring out of various exits and rushing towards the fence.

Clarke doubted that she ever ran faster as she headed for the fence. The last barrier in their way. She slowed to a stop as they reached the fence. People were already climbing the metal links and landing successfully on the other side. A loud _pop_ drew Clarke’s attention back to the building as a black canister hit the ground a few feet away. It exploded, thick smoke seeping out. More popping sounds filled the air, as more black canisters hit the ground.

“C’mon,” Wells yelled over the loud explosions. The thick smoke was quickly spreading, coating the ground in a white fog. “I’ll lift you guys up over the fence.”

“You sure you can do that?” Finn asked. “You could hurt-” The rest of Finn’s comment fell away as the young man was suddenly lifted off the ground by an invisible force. He was lifted higher and higher before being lowered back to the ground on the other side of the fence.

The sound of a gunshot piercing into the night drew their attention back to the building yet again, but the smoke was too thick and high to see anything.

Wells focused his attention onto Octavia. His hand reached out towards the young woman as the same invisible force lifted her up off the ground. More gunshots rang out, a few bullets hitting the dirt around them as Wells lowered Octavia onto the ground next to Finn.

When Wells turned his attention to Clarke, the blonde noticed blood dripping from her friend’s nose.

“Wait, Wells,” Clarke went to step towards Wells but was suddenly lifted off the ground.

“It’s okay, Clarke,” he said as she was gradually lifted higher.

She was lowered back to the ground alongside Octavia and Finn.

“C’mon, Wells!” Finn yelled. “Get your ass over here!”

Wells shot his friends a small smile at Finn’s comment before closing his eyes. A moment later, his own feet began to rise up from the ground. And then a black armored hand reached out from the thick, white smoke. An arm wound its way around Wells’ neck and yanked the young man back into the smoke.

“Wells!” Clarke cried as she raced forward and grabbed hold of the fence, the note slipping from her hand.

“We have to go!”

Clarke wasn’t entirely sure who had spoken, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t leaving Wells behind. Not when they were all so close.

“We have to run!”

No. She wasn’t leaving Wells behind. She wasn’t leaving any of her friends behind. She couldn’t. Wells would emerge from the smoke and lift himself over the fence _and then_ they would run.

“Clarke!”

Her fingers clutched the chain-links as her vision blurred. She wouldn’t leave.

But her friend did not emerge from the smoke as gunshots continued to crack into the night. A hand fell onto her shoulder, pulling her away from the fence. Still, nobody emerged. She kept looking back as they ran further and further away, hoping that she’d catch even a glimpse of her friend.

She didn’t.

 

* * *

 

The trees were endless. Clarke wasn’t sure how long they had been running, but her lungs and legs were burning by the time the three of them finally stopped to catch their breath. Arkadia was far behind them, though exactly how far behind was another thing the blonde wasn’t sure of. All Clarke could figure out in this moment was that they had run far enough away that they could no longer hear the gunshots or the shouts of the other people that had managed to escape as well.

But not all of them had made it out.

“Okay,” Finn began after catching his breath. “We’re going to need to find someplace to lay low for a bit until we can figure out our next move.”

“Maybe we should figure out where we are first,” Octavia suggested.

Clarke felt herself shiver as she looked back in the direction they had come from. Was Wells alright? Was he hurt? She looked over towards the direction they were running in. As much as each step forward felt like a harsh betrayal, they would need to keep moving if they didn’t want to end up back in the Ark’s hands. Clarke took a few steps forward before spotting something up ahead. She kept walking, Octavia and Finn following behind.

When Clarke stepped out of the trees and onto the side of a narrow road, she had to fight back a laugh that was crawling its way up her throat. Her blue eyes stared at an old wooden sign planted deep into the ground along the side of the road. She hadn’t seen this sign in years, and now here she was. These past six years she had only ever been a few miles outside her home town.

Clarke looked back at Octavia and Finn. “I have an idea.”

 

* * *

 

**My car better be okay Reyes.**

Raven smirked as she read the Deputy’s text message. Sprawled out on her couch, Raven quickly typed back a response.

  **Oh ye of little faith.**

**I’m serious. I’m putting her** **life** **in your hands.**

**Relax Anya. Your car is fine.**

**I’m almost done fixing her up.**

**Good.**

Raven rolled her eyes after reading the Deputy’s one word response. She had only had Anya’s car in her garage for a week, and every day she had either received a visit from the Deputy herself or a series of text messages. While Raven didn’t mind the extra attention, in fact she really loved it whenever Anya came by, she was glad that she was almost done fixing up the old car. Raven smiled as her fingers began to type out another message.

**You’re gonna owe me for this one.**

**I’m a cop.**

**I’m not** **going** **to drive off** **without** **paying you.**

Raven laughed and was halfway done typing her response when a knock came from her back door. The happy smile that had settled upon her face vanished as Raven lowered her phone and sat up. Who the hell was knocking on her back door this late at night? Placing her phone on the coffee table, Raven stood up and made her way into the kitchen. The mechanic snatched up an old shotgun that had been leaning in a corner as another knock rattled against the back door.

She reached the back door and yanked the damn door open, ready to snap at whoever was outside. However, the very last person she expected to see at her back door was Clarke Griffin.

 

* * *

 

Raven sat at her kitchen table, watching as Clarke Griffin and her two friends practically inhale the ham and cheese sandwiches Raven had made for them. For awhile, Raven thought that she had been dreaming when she had found Clarke at her back door with a gun and a story that sounded like something from a bad science fiction movie. But she wasn’t dreaming. This was real.

“So,” Raven began as she watched Clarke shove the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth. “You never went to Mount Weather?”

“Is that what they told everyone?” Clarke asked after swallowing the last of her sandwich. “That they shipped me off to some hospital?”

“It’s what your mother told people,” Raven replied. When Clarke didn’t say anything, Raven stood up to fetch her phone. “I’m calling Abby.”

“Wait, Raven,” Clarke stood up. “You can’t tell her.” Before the mechanic could argue further, Clarke spoke. “Not yet. We just need a place to lie low for a few days. Please, Raven. I need your help.”

Raven stared at the blonde, noting the bruises on her face and the split lip. The mechanic wasn’t sure whether she believed Clarke’s. It just sounded crazy. Instead of being sent to Mount Weather, some secret government organization had taken Clarke and others against their will and had done things to them. Clarke hadn’t explained what exactly had been done to her, and Raven hadn’t pressed for details. The mechanic didn’t like the idea of keeping all this from Abby. But...fuck. What else was she supposed to do? Throw them out?

“Alright,” Raven sighed. “You guys can stay here. But you should talk to your mother, Clarke. She misses you.”

 

* * *

 

**Now**

Clarke shifted around as she tried to find a more comfortable position in the back of the officer’s patrol car. Unfortunately, with her hands cuffed behind her, no matter how much she shifted around, it was still uncomfortable. This had been a stupid idea, but Clarke had been unable to shake off Raven’s words from the previous night. And after waking up in a real bed in the first time in six years, Clarke hadn’t been able to get her mother and her old home off her mind.

Octavia had told her that her plan was stupid. She should have listened to her. Instead she had just given the gun to Octavia and told her that she would be back later. She had changed into fresh clothes that Raven had set aside for them to borrow before walking all the way to her mother’s house. When Clarke had arrived, she found her mother not home and the house looking exactly the same as she remembered it. With the doors locked, Clarke had climbed through one of the unlocked windows to get inside, and the smell...just the smell of being home…

Voices outside the car pulled at Clarke’s attention. She couldn’t catch much of what the voices were saying, but she could see two officers standing towards the front of the car. Another car had pulled up. A much older looking police car. Clarke had lost track of time during her walk through her childhood home. Each room had brought back memories of a happier time. Memories of her family together. It had filled her head with thoughts of possibly having that again. Another chance to live her life.

She hadn’t heard the officer approach until it was too late, and her choice to run had been born out of instinct and fear. The fear that she was going to lose every inch of freedom she had gained. The fear that Wells’ sacrifice to lift her over the fence before saving himself would be in vain.

The voices stopped talking. Apparently a decision had been made because one officer was walking back to the older patrol car while the other, the woman who had chased her through the woods, was making her way back to the car Clarke was in. The blonde looked away and stared out the passenger’s side window as the officer settled into the driver’s seat. There was an awkward stretch of silence as Clarke kept staring out the window, knowing damn well that the woman was looking at her.

And then the feeling of those eyes on her vanished as the car pulled away from the curb. Clarke watched as her house slowly passed by and disappeared into the night.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the love you guys have showed for these last two chapters. Here is chapter three. I hope you enjoy!

“Clarke Griffin?”

“Yes.”

“Broke into her mother’s house?”

Lexa leaned against the hood of her patrol car, arms crossed in front of her chest as her Deputy looked past her, clearly watching the blonde Lexa had placed in the back of her car. “The doors are all locked, Dr. Griffin isn’t home, and I watched her climb out one of the windows. When I went to go talk to her, she ran. So breaking and entering is my best guess.”

Anya nodded before turning her focus back to Lexa. “And what did she say?”

“Nothing,” Lexa replied. “She hasn’t said anything. The only reason I know who she is, is because I was going over the Griffins’ case files earlier.”

The Deputy’s brow arched in question. “Why were you doing that?”

“I was curious about Pike’s interest in Dr. Griffin,” Lexa replied. “So I did a bit of digging.”

Anya leaned against the hood of her own patrol car. “That wasn’t a good time, Lex. I worked with the last Sheriff on those cases. There’s a reason nobody talks about it.”

“I have a special agent going around my town believing that there’s some threat here that I don’t know about,” Lexa’s voice hardened as she uncrossed her arms. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and if that means opening up old wounds then so be it.”

“Fine,” Anya replied, well aware that arguing with the Sheriff when she was like this would just be a waste of breath. “What are you going to do with her?”

“I’ll take her back to the station and contact Dr. Griffin,” Lexa stood up straighter from leaning on the hood of her car. “Maybe Abby will be able to shed some light on why her daughter is acting this way.” And maybe also reveal why a special agent was interested in the doctor.

Spirits, this was _not_ how she had thought this Monday was going to go.

Lexa walked around her patrol car and settled back down in the driver’s seat. As she took her Sheriff’s hat off and placed it on the front passenger seat, her gaze lifted up to the rearview mirror. The blonde was just sitting there, staring out the passenger’s side window. She toyed with the idea of trying to talk to the woman again but abandoned the idea as quickly as it came. Lexa had tried to talk to the blonde earlier once their chase had come to an end, but the woman had refused to speak with her.

So, Lexa’s gaze fell away from the rearview mirror and drove away from the Griffins’ house.

 

* * *

 

It was a quiet ride back to the station. The blonde in the back of the car didn’t even mutter a single word during the drive. When they finally reached the station, Lexa’s green eyes lifted back up to the rearview mirror and found Clarke still staring out the window. Her gaze shifted to the bruises that peppered the blonde’s face along with a nasty looking split lip. Lexa had noticed the injuries after their chase had come to an end back in the woods, but when she had inquired about them, she had received nothing except silence from the woman.

Green eyes traveled up the woman’s face to find blue eyes staring right back at her. Well, it seemed that the blonde was done ignoring her. Maybe now she’d finally talk and explain what the hell she was doing crawling out of her mother’s home in the middle of the night and running from police.

Lexa held Clarke’s gaze through the rearview mirror. “Are you ready to tell me what you were up to tonight?” She waited patiently for the woman’s answer, hoping that Clarke would just give her something so she’d have one less mystery to worry about. She already had a special agent combing through her town for reasons which were irritatingly classified. She didn’t need another mystery tossed into her lap on the same day the first one arrived. Especially a mystery seeped in bad history.

But Clarke didn’t say a word. Instead, the blonde returned to staring out the window.

Jaw clenching, Lexa’s gaze dropped away from the rearview mirror. Fine. They would do this the long, and difficult way. Putting her car in park outside the station, Lexa grabbed her Sheriff’s hat and placed it on top of her head. “Once we get inside the station, I will call your mother and have her come pick you up.” Lexa paused as she killed the engine of her car, waiting for any kind of response from the woman in the backseat.

Still nothing. Well, Lexa knew that Abby would talk. Hopefully the doctor would be able to provide Lexa with the answers she sought.

Lexa stepped out of her car and then helped Clarke out of the backseat. Taking the blonde by her arm, the Sheriff led the woman up and into the station. Once inside, Lexa spotted both Gustus and Indra sitting at their desks in the middle of conversation. However, both officers quickly lost interest in whatever they were talking about the moment they saw the Sheriff and Clarke. Before either officer could say a word, Lexa led the blonde past the small cluster of desks and into an adjacent room that housed the station’s one and only cell.

“Do you have a phone number I can use to contact your mother?” Lexa asked as she proceeded to unlock the cuffs from around the woman’s wrists. Of course she received no answer, so Lexa simply rolled her eyes before opening the barred cell door and gestured for Clarke to enter. “Nevermind. I’ll figure it out.” Leaving the blonde alone in the cell, Lexa made her way back to her office and wasn’t the least bit surprised to find Gustus already up and waiting by her door.

“Was that-”

“Clarke Griffin,” Lexa answered before the older officer could finish his question. “Call Lincoln back to the station so he can have a look at her injuries.” She pushed opened the door to her office and stepped inside. She took off her hat and tossed it onto her desk before sinking into her chair with a sigh.

“Will do,” Gustus nodded from his spot in her office doorway. “I didn’t even know the girl was back in town.”

Lexa was already opening up her laptop so she could locate Dr. Griffin’s cell phone number. It wouldn’t take long to locate the contact information she needed. It didn’t matter if Clarke refused to give her any information, but it would have made things a whole lot easier if the woman would just talk to her. “I suspect that nobody knew.” She heard Gustus walk away as Lexa managed to pull up the doctor’s cell phone number. She called the doctor’s number and left a voicemail. It would only be a matter of time before this little mystery was solved.

 

* * *

 

“Shit.”

Lexa’s eyes snapped open. A second later, she lifted her head up from her desk, grimacing at the painful tugging from her sore neck and lower back. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Lexa found Anya sitting in a chair across from her with a box of donuts in one hand and a coffee in the other. Lexa glanced over to the clock hanging on her wall. It was seven in the morning.

“I didn’t realize how much this Griffin case mattered to you,” Anya handed Lexa the coffee she had picked up for the Sheriff.

“Thanks,” Lexa took the coffee, truly grateful that her Deputy had thought to grab her one since the day had only just begun, and she already felt like crap. She couldn’t remember when she had fallen asleep at her desk. Lexa remembered leaving Abby Griffin a voicemail and had waited to hear back from the doctor while also rereading the old case files regarding Clarke. The behaviour the blonde was exhibiting was strange, to say the least. By all accounts, before Jake’s death, Clarke had a fairly social life around Polis. Even after her father’s tragic death, there was no mention of Clarke pulling away and refusing to talk to people. In fact, the woman had done a lot of talking after Jake’s death.

“You should go home,” Anya suggested. “Take the rest of the day off. Sleep and clean yourself up.”

Lexa took a sip from her coffee. She should go home. This station and the town would be fine in her Deputy’s hands for a day. But Lexa couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t done yet. That something was still out of place. “What did Abby say when she came to pick up Clarke?”

“She didn’t,” Anya replied.

Whatever sleepiness that had been clinging to the Sheriff vanished at her Deputy’s answer. Abby never came to pick her daughter up? Lexa pulled out her phone to check if she had any missed calls from the doctor. Nothing. “Has Clarke said anything?”

“Gustus and Indra said that the girl didn’t speak to them at all,” Anya replied. “And she hasn’t said anything this morning.”

Lexa nodded, a thought coming to mind as her eyes landed on the box of donuts in her Deputy’s hand. She gestured for Anya to hand over the box. When she did, Lexa selected a donut, placed it on a napkin, and then stood up. She left her office with donut in hand and made her way to the room that housed the cell she had left Clarke in. When Lexa entered the room, she found the blonde curled up on the cot, her back to the Sheriff. She waited a few seconds to see if the woman would acknowledge her presence at all. When the blonde didn’t move, Lexa stepped up to the bars of the cell.

“I thought you might be hungry,” Lexa began, hoping to earn some kind of response from the woman. Instead, she received more silence. “This would be easier if you talked to me. What were you doing crawling out of your mother’s house last night?” Again she waited for a response. Still nothing. “Did you just come back into town?” She watched as Clarke shifted around a bit on the cot but continued to keep her back to her. “How did you get those injuries? Did you get in a fight?”

Nothing. Lexa looked away from the blonde, taking a few moments to calm the bits of mounting frustrating that threatened to spill out into anger. When her green eyes returned to the woman, she found the blonde still curled up on the cot. It seemed that even with food, this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. Very well.

Taking the donut with her, Lexa left Clarke in the cell and returned to her office where her Deputy was happily munching away on a donut of her own. Lexa placed the donut she had selected for Clarke back onto her desk and grabbed her hat and coat.

“The donut plan didn’t work?” Anya asked around a mouthful of fried dough.

“I’m going to go talk with Abby Griffin,” Lexa said, ignoring her Deputy’s question. “Keep an eye on our guest while I’m away.”

“You might want to clean yourself up first,” Anya suggested as she watched Lexa head for the door. “You’re looking a bit rough this morning, Sheriff.”

 

* * *

 

Lexa followed Anya’s advice and swung by her house first for a quick shower and change of clothes. As the brunette stood in front of her bathroom mirror, buttoning up a clean beige shirt identical to the one she had previously been wearing, she couldn’t help but think back to the last time she had accidentally fallen asleep at the station. It had been three years ago, just a few months into her new promotion as Sheriff. There had been a bad car accident late one night. A life had been lost.

She tucked the hem of her collared shirt into a fresh pair of dark brown pants, shoving that memory into the back of her mind where it belonged. She couldn’t let herself think about that. Not when there was too much going on that demanded her absolute attention. Besides, she had mourned and moved on. There was no point in dwelling in the past.

No longer looking as rough as her Deputy had mentioned, Lexa drove back to Abby Griffin’s house. However, as she pulled alongside the curb, she found the driveway empty and the house still dark. Abby still wasn’t home. Putting her car in park, Lexa settled back in her seat. If the doctor hadn’t come home yet, then Lexa was perfectly content to just sit here and wait for Abby to arrive. The doctor would have to come home at some point. Lexa knew Abby worked long shifts at the hospital, but the woman didn’t spend every waking moment there. And if Abby knew that her daughter was back in town then it was quite possible that the doctor would want to be home to see her. Unless Abby didn’t know that Clarke was in town.

The brunette was still musing on that thought when a call came in over the radio. A robbery had just occurred at the Polis Mini-Mart. A curse slipped past her lips as Lexa pulled away from the curb and sped off back into town.

 

* * *

 

Officers Indra and Gustus were already on the scene as Lexa pulled up to the convenience store ten minutes later. The usually clean and well stocked store was one enormous mess as Lexa stepped inside. Shelves were knocked over. Bags of snacks were scattered everywhere. Even the glass on one of the store’s refrigerator doors was shattered. Whoever had done this was apparently long gone as the only people inside the store now were Gustus, Indra, and the store owner, Niylah.

Lexa made her way over to the checkout counter, careful not to crush any snacks underfoot, where her officers and the owner were talking. The drawer to the cash register was sticking out, completely empty. While Indra continued to talk with the owner, Gustus stepped over towards the Sheriff.

“What happened?” Lexa asked as she looked around again at the mess. Who the hell would want to rob the mini-mart?

“Three masked guys came in here and took the money and some food,” Gustus replied.

Why? This was a small community. Everyone who lived in Polis knew each other. Why would anyone do this to their neighbor?

“It gets worse,” Gustus continued, drawing Lexa’s gaze back to him. “Wait till you see the video, Sheriff.”

Niylah led the three officers to the back of the store where she had a small office set up. It took only a few minutes for the owner to bring up the footage from the store’s security camera. When Niylah played back the video, Lexa found herself watching footage of a quiet, empty convenience store. The owner was sitting behind the checkout counter, flipping through a magazine. Then there was a bright flash of light, and when the white light faded away, three masked men were standing in the middle of the store. One of the men walked straight up to Niylah and extended his arm towards her, something sharp sticking out from the palm of his hand.

“He wanted the money,” Niylah explained as Lexa continued to watch the footage. “He had something in his hand. I couldn’t really tell what it was.”

As the footage showed the owner opening the cash drawer and handing over the cash, the other two men were having fun grabbing as many snacks and drinks as they could carry, knocking over shelves as they went. And then the bright flash of light came again, blinding the camera. When the light faded a second time, the men were gone.

“Did you recognize any of their voices?” Lexa asked as Niylah paused the video.

“No,” Niylah answered. “But it was strange. I didn’t hear them enter the store. I remember hearing a loud popping sound, a flash of light, and then them.”

Since Niylah claimed that she didn’t recognize any of their voices, it was possible that this was just three guys from out of town. But Polis was a bit out of the way from all major roads, so why would these guys come all the way out here to rob a convenience store? Or maybe these guys were locals. Regardless, they would need to search this entire store for any clues that could shed some light on the identities of these men.

“Indra,” Lexa began, plan already forming. “Go outside and see if you can gather any witness statements. Maybe someone saw something that the camera didn’t catch. Gustus, search the store. These guys may have accidentally left something behind. That flash of light we saw could be from a flash grenade. I’ll call in the others to assist in securing this crime scene.”

“That won’t be necessary, Sheriff Woods.”

Maybe she should have expected this considering how strange yesterday had been and the even stranger events unfolding today, but the sight of Special Agent Pike was the very last thing Lexa wanted to deal with right now. He was standing just outside the store’s backroom, dressed in another black suit identical to the one he had been wearing the previous day. It also didn’t help that he thought that he could just stroll onto her crime scene and shoot down her orders.

“You are contaminating my crime scene,” her tone calm, but the anger still simmered there, right beneath the surface. “Leave.”

“This isn’t your crime scene anymore, Sheriff,” Pike replied, stepping into the backroom. “I appreciate your officers’ quick response time and your concern, but this is now my crime scene, and my team will be here momentarily to conduct a thorough investigation.”   

Jaw clenching, Lexa fought to keep the anger that was ready to burst under control. This was her town. _She_ protected these people, not some special agent who had just rolled into town yesterday. “I fail to see how this suddenly became your crime scene, Agent Pike.”

“This became my crime scene when the perpetrators who carried out this robbery are some of the fugitives that I have been hunting,” Pike explained.

Shit.

“What evidence do you have to support your claim?” Lexa asked as she thought back to the masked men on the video. Niylah said she didn’t recognize their voices, and it was still possible that these suspects were from out of town. But if these guys were the dangerous fugitives Pike had mentioned yesterday…

“Those details are classified,” Pike replied. He checked his watch strapped to his wrist. “My team has arrived. Your assistance is no longer necessary, Sheriff Woods. Please leave before you and your Officers contaminate my crime scene any further.”

Of course it was all classified. Everything seemed to be classified when it came to Pike. Whoever these fugitives were, Lexa hoped that Agent Pike either caught them quickly or followed the clues straight out of town. She walked out of the backroom, both Indra and Gustus following behind, and as she walked through the store she saw several men dressed in white hazmat suits. Outside the store, three white vans and Pike’s black SUV were parked nearby.

Once Lexa had reached her car, she turned to face Gustus and Indra. “Go back out on patrol. Still look to see if you can find anyone who may have seen something or heard anything.” After relaying her orders, Lexa settled back into her car and checked her phone for any missed calls. Nothing. Not even a call from Abby Griffin.

Lexa tossed her phone onto the front passenger’s seat. Agent Pike might have been able to kick her off her own crime scene in her own town, but Lexa was going to get to the bottom of the Griffin case. And if the doctor wasn’t going to return her calls or show up at the station or her home, then Lexa would come to Abby.

 

* * *

 

The drive from the convenience store to the town hospital was relatively short. The hospital’s waiting room had a couple sick and injured people sitting around in black plastic chairs. As Lexa approached the desk to speak with the nurse, she found another doctor, Nyko, already chatting with the nurse. His attention shifted towards the Sheriff as Lexa reached the desk.

“Sheriff Woods,” Nyko greeted. “How can I help you today?”

“I need to speak with Abby Griffin,” Lexa replied.

Nyko sighed. “I wish I could help you, Sheriff, but Abby hasn’t shown up for work at all these past few days. Nobody has heard from her.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! Thank you for reading.


End file.
